Well, sort of. The American Bar Association (ABA) Strategic Review Committee voted this morning to drop the requirement that law schools use a “valid and reliable admission test” as part of their application process - a requirement that was previously satisfied by the LSAT and/or the GRE at most law schools.

This isn’t the final nail in the coffin for the testing requirement, as the ABA House of Delegates still needs to vote on the decision in February 2023. However, the House vote is largely considered a formality. The Strategic Review Committee vote was the last major hurdle for this change, and this morning’s vote all but guarantees it’ll be implemented.

What does this decision mean for law school applicants?

As of right now, it’s not completely clear. The ABA hasn’t told law schools whether or not they should require the LSAT. Instead, it’s just removed itself from the question completely, giving each law school the freedom to decide for itself.

As of this afternoon, no school has officially announced plans to drop the testing requirement.

Furthermore, this change won’t take effect until the Fall of 2025, so if you’re planning on applying any time in the next two years, you will still be required to submit either an LSAT or GRE score.

Do law schools still require the LSAT?

Yes - or the GRE. Law schools won’t be allowed to drop the testing requirement until Fall 2025 at the earliest.

Will law schools stop requiring the LSAT?

It’s hard to know. According to recent polls, about half of law schools report that they’re likely to continue requiring test scores, while half are on the fence. Those numbers may change as the impacts of this decision become clearer.

For their part, dozens of law school deans recently wrote a letter in defense of the testing requirement, which may indicate that they will continue requiring it even in the absence of an ABA requirement.

Why did the ABA get rid of the testing requirement?

While we don’t know exactly why the ABA ruled the way it did, the chief motivator seems to be a concern over diversity and equity. Some of the LSAT’s opponents point to score discrepancies between various groups, arguing that these differences contribute to the historic underrepresentation of these groups in law school classes. They also argue that the test favors higher-income applicants who are able to afford more extensive (and expensive) LSAT prep options.

It is still worth taking the LSAT?

If you’re planning on applying before Fall 2025 - yes! This change won’t take effect until then.

If you’re not planning on applying until Fall 2025… What are you doing here? Go ride a bike or something - you’ll have plenty more information about what is and isn’t required by the time you start working on your application. :)

If you’re on the fence about timeline, our advice is always to take the option that gives you the most flexibility. In this case, that would be taking the LSAT.

Does this have anything to do with law schools dropping out of the US News rankings?

As you may have heard, Harvard, Yale, and Berkeley all announced this week that they will no longer participate in the US News rankings, which have been the dominant rankings in the law school world for decades.

This ABA decision isn’t directly related to those decisions, but it may stem from the same concern: that the law school admissions process has become absolutely dominated by test scores to the exclusion of almost every other factor.

Key Takeaways:

• The ABA is now pretty much guaranteed to drop the testing requirement for law school admissions

• Law schools can now decide for themselves if they want to require applicants to submit test scores (like the LSAT or GRE).

• They will still have to require test scores from people applying in Fall 2023 and 2024.

• Some law schools may drop the requirement, some may keep it. It seems likely that there will be plenty of schools in both camps.

Looking for more clarity on how to proceed?